Rams Head Coach Jim Haslett
November 12, 2008
(Opening Remarks)
“Injury wise: (CB) Tye Hill is going to be out his week. (DE) Eric Moore will probably be out. (RB) Steven (Jackson) worked better today and that’s all I can tell you; we’ll see how he is tomorrow and we’ll work him tomorrow and then hopefully make a decision. I know it’s a lot better, but is it good enough? I don’t know yet.”
(On if he will use the same test as last week to decide if RB Steven Jackson is ready to play)
“He needs to go tomorrow and he has to kind of open it up and go. He didn’t take a lot of reps today, you were out there, you guys saw it, but he doesn’t talk today.”
(On if he thought RB Steven Jackson looked about at third speed today)
“A little bit more than that maybe, but I thought it was a lot better.”
(On CB Tye Hill’s recovery)
“Tye Hill’s out. He went to Birmingham, (AL) Monday, came back, there’s still fluid on the knee, he has a bone bruise and the fluid’s going to have to get out of there and he’s going to have to keep rehabbing it, hopefully no more than this week and he gets out there and starts playing, he needs to get on the field, he’s missed already four games this year, he missed eight games last year; he’s missing too much time.”
(On why CB Ron Bartell stopped practicing early today)
“He’s got the flu, so he went out and practiced and then the last segment of the team (drills) he was kind of worn out, so that’s why he came out.”
(On if RB Ken Darby fumbles at practice)
“He didn’t fumble. I saw him holding he ball when he was running his sprints that was good. I like the kid. The kid’s actually a pretty good running back, I thought the limited time he was in there he did pretty well running, but he has to hold onto the ball. But, yeah, he was holding onto the ball today doing sprints.”
(On if it was his idea for RB Ken Darby to hold the ball during his sprints)
“No, that wasn’t mine, it was the running back coach.”
(On who will start at running back)
“Well, it’s all based on what happens with (RB) Steven (Jackson) too. (RB) Travis (Minor) is back. (RB) (Antonio) Pittman’s playing. It’s kind of open-ended right now.”
(On the 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz’s offense)
“It’s the same type of offense we run, so it’s very confusing with all the shifts and the motions, obviously they have a great running back, Frank Gore, a good set of receivers and (QB) Shawn’s (Hill) doing a nice job running the show, I thought he did a great job last week against Arizona. It’s kind of strange, I can’t get away from the guy. We were going head-to-head as coaches and then going head-to-head as coordinators, now we’re kind of all over the place. It’s a complicated offense and they give you a lot of different looks and you have a lot to prepare for.”
(On his friendship with 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz)
“During the era when we were both going at each other, we didn’t really talk much because obviously it’s two ends of the spectrum and then I actually talked to him at length at the Senior Bowl a couple years ago. We were sitting in the stands for about two hours and we talked about both organizations and then the time playing against each other and reminisicing on all that stuff and then when I came here we talked about the organization, what to expect and how things were run because obviously he had great insight on it.”
(On if he thinks 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz will run the ‘bull-crap’ plays as he termed them when he was in New Orleans)
“I’m sure he will.”
(On what challenges 49ers RB Frank Gore presents)
“Obviously, we didn’t play the run very well last week, so I think the guy’s a beast. I think he’s one of the best running backs in the league. He plays low to the ground, he’s powerful, he’s got great quickness and we’ve always had problems bringing the guy down, so we have to make sure we’re a lot better than we were last week with alignments, assignments, getting off blocks, this guy’s a really good football player.”
(On how he can improve the run defense)
“You have to focus on the fundamentals, which is what we did today and then doing all the little things right. The teams are going to run at you, when you’re not a huge defense, you’re not overly big, then everything has to be perfect. Your technique has to be perfect, your alignments, your assignments have to be perfect, just get lined up with everybody in the gaps. You get a lot of misdirection from this team coming up and guys are going to have to do a good job fitting and knowing where the free hitter is all the time.”
(On if he thinks the players have moved on from the loss)
“I thought they did a nice job. In this business you have bad days, we just had a terrible day on Sunday, but you have to forget it and move on. I guess you guys talked to them already. I think they understand you can’t have days like that. In this business if you turn the ball over five times, we had 12 possessions on offense, well we lost five of them because we turned it over, so really the offense had seven possessions and in turn, we had 12 on defense and you turn it over and so you really had 17 possesions on defense. Well, you’re not going to beat too many people with seven possessions because you have to score about five out of those seven to get points and on defense that’s a lot of stops to win a game. I think they understand that we can’t be successful doing those types of things, the last two weeks that’s what we’ve been doing.”
(On how 49ers WR Isaac Bruce looks on film)
“Like he’s done before, I mean, like he is all the time. You can tell he’s got great zip coming out of his breaks, doing a good job blocking. The thing I’m impressed with is they’re lining him up at all different spots; he’s inside, he’s outside, playing X and Z starting formations, so that’s something I never really saw him do. Obviously, he has a great knowledge of the offense, so you can do those types of things, but he was basically the Z here, the flanker position, now I see him running up in different spots.”
(On if it helps preparing for 49ers WR Isaac Bruce since he’s worked with him before)
“You kind of know about him, but you know he’s got great hands, he runs great routes and he’s going to do whatever he has to do to get open. He’s still a polished receiver.”
(On if he has a relationship with 49ers head coach Mike Singletary)
“I haven’t had any. I don’t know Mike that well, I just know him from, obviously, his reputation and being around him a little bit, but not much.”
(On if he is satisfied with the way the players handle loss and smile on the sidelines when they’re losing)
“From what I saw, I think they care. I don’t see those types of things. Everybody acts a little bit different when it comes to losses and, I mean, if they smile that’s hard for to me say that they’re not disappointed that they lost a game or I could order them all not to smile, but that’s hard to do too.”
(On if he’s satisfied with the team’s commitment)
“I think it’s been pretty good. It was just a bad day and bad turnovers. From what I’ve seen, again I know the guys on defense better than I know the guys on
offense and I know what they are, they’re very competitive. They didn’t take well to what happened and I know they’ll fix it too.”
(On how he handles his anger when he’s coaching)
“I really don’t change one way or the other, win or lose, I’m kind of always the same. If we won 14 in a row, I’d probably be the same as I am right now, if we’d lost 14 I’d be the same, I’d probably be ticked off that we’re losing and I’m not happy about it, but I don’t think you coach through anger that’s not the way you coach. You coach as a teacher and if I’m going to teach and I’m mad at a class or something for something they did, I’m not going to be up on the board screaming and yelling at them, you still have to go out and do your job, teaching them, trying to do your best, they are what they are. You have to coach them and try to put them in the right spots and know their strengths and know their weaknesses and try to take advantage of it. For me to be upset, yeah you’re upset that you lost the game, but angry, I don’t know about that.”
(On if he considers the 49ers a big rival)
“One team’s 2-7, the other team’s 2-7, ain’t much of a rivalry. I think the rivalry’s when a 7-2 and 7-2 teams are playing. We’re going to try to just go out there and play well and win the game. That’s the most important thing.”
(On if he still has the philosophy of throwing out the record books)
“I don’t even know about the record books to be honest with you. I haven’t really looked at the all-time record, I just know what’s happening right now.”